I can’t vouch for those working for Buhari — Keyamo

The Director, Strategic Communications, Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), says he can only vouch for President Muhammadu Buhari’s integrity and not those working for him.

Keyamo said this during a chat with ‘The Interview’, a monthly magazine published in Abuja.

The senior advocate was asked to respond to allegations that there were nepotism and backdoor recruitment at the Central Bank of Nigeria and other public institutions.

He said, “Remember there was a time when there was an outcry that they shortlisted certain people or there were more people from certain parts of the country. Like I said, when these things come out and they come to the knowledge of the President, what does he do?

“Do you really expect the President to sit down and compile names of those to employ in MDAs? We cannot vouch for people who work for him. I am saying that openly. I cannot vouch for them. Do you expect the President to sit down, take his pen and begin to shortlist people one by one?

“When the issue of shortlisted candidates was brought to the public knowledge, that it tilted to some areas, he stopped the process.”

Keyamo also berated those accusing Buhari of appointment of mainly northerners to top positions.

He said even though a large number of the persons running security agencies were from the North, the economy was being run by the South.

The senior advocate, therefore, stated that many southerners were being unnecessarily paranoid.

He said, “The service chiefs, two are from the South, two are from the North. One is from Ekiti and one, I think is a Calabar man or so. Now, the DSS and the NSA, in some areas when the President concentrates on picking people from some areas, in other areas, he may decide to leave that zone entirely and concentrate on another zone.

“For the northerners complaining that there is no one northerner in the economic team. You have the Vice-President from the south. You have the Minister of Budget, he is from the South; the Minister of Finance, from the South; the Minister of Trade from the South.”